U.S. to Overhaul Its Approach to Supporting Syrian Rebels

But Carter says the us sees through Russia’s facade and won’t cooperate unless Moscow changes its strategy.

Russian Federation and the United States are expected to hold military-to-military talks on Syria, where both countries have been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIL) militants, this weekend, the Pentagon said.

Madam, then America s choosing them moderate opponents Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates s say whether the train. A Syrian rebel commander leading the trainees last week handed over a halfdozen vehicles to extremist militants.

Earlier this week, Pentagon officials said they had had to carry out at least one “safe separation” manoeuvre to avoid a U.S. jet coming too close to a Russian aircraft over Syria.

In a conference call with reporters today, Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, described the change to the training program as “a pause” because it could be re-established in the future. U.S. Senator John McCain said Russian Federation had hit CIA-backed rebels, who were trained under a secret initiative separate from the Pentagon’s effort. She said: “I don’t think at all this was a case of poor execution”.

As we’ve reported, the $500 million program, which sought to train 5,400 fighters, has failed.

The administration has acknowledged that its efforts to attract recruits have struggled because the program was exclusively authorized to fight Islamic State, rather than Assad. Graham has been a leading critic of the Syria policy of Obama, a Democrat.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter directed the department to provide equipment packages and weapons to a “select group of vetted leaders and their units so that over time they can make a concerted push into territory still controlled by ISIL”, Cook said.

“They could actually establish a foothold inside Aleppo and it also helps them to make more progress in Hama”, another key city in western Syria.

According to the New York Times, which broke the news, Pentagon officials will officially announce the end of the program on Friday, as Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter leaves London after meetings with his British counterpart, Defense Minister Michael Fallon, about the continuing wars in Syria and Iraq.

Seeking to underline the dangers, USA officials said four Russian cruise missiles fired from a warship in the Caspian Sea had crashed in Iran, which drew a swift denial from Russia.

Officials said the provision of equipment to the groups would be limited at first but could grow depending on a rebel group’s performance.